Opinion: China has an off-switch for America, and we aren’t ready to deal with it. – The Hill

May 26, 2025

Written by Editor

Image: Shutterstock

What’s new: Increasing concern about the vulnerability of almost all of America’s infrastructure  – not just GPS.

Why it’s important: It highlights how fragile systems have become without adequate protections for primary systems or backups if they fail.

What else to know: GPS’s vulnerability and America’s over-reliance on it did not occur in a vacuum. It is part of a larger pattern of striving for greater and greater efficiencies at the expense of robustness and resilience, and perhaps over-confidence being the sole global superpower for decades.

The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of The Hill

China has an off-switch for America, and we aren’t ready to deal with it.

Imagine waking up tomorrow and your phone has no signal. Your smart home isn’t working. Your Ring camera is offline. You get in your car, but your GPS won’t route. Worse, every traffic light in town is out. Intersections are a mess of blaring horns and confusion. Sirens echo in the distance. You drive to an ATM, hoping to grab some cash. The screen flickers, then goes black. It’s not just your neighborhood. It’s not just your state. The entire nation has gone dark.
READ MORE

 

What Can YOU Do? How Can YOU Help?

PNT is the quiet backbone of everything but too many leaders still don’t see the risk.

But you do. You understand the systems, the dependencies, the failure chains. That insight is rare — and it’s exactly what your country needs right now. Contact your government leaders and industry decision-makers and tell them resilient PNT isn’t a feature — it’s the foundation everything else depends on.

Start the Conversation

Use our Resilient PNT Key Talking Points to make the case.

U.S. Advocates

Find your representatives at Congress.gov, then use our email template to reach them in minutes.

When you get a response, let us know. Every conversation strengthens the mission.

More PNT News

New Company for Broadcast Positioning System – NAB

New Company for Broadcast Positioning System – NAB

Image: Shutterstock What's new: The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has formed a separate company to develop, advocate for, and deploy the Broadcast Positioning System (BPS). Why it's important: NAB has put increasing effort behind BPS since its inception...

Standalone Magnetometry Is the New GPS – IEEE Spectrum

Standalone Magnetometry Is the New GPS – IEEE Spectrum

Image: Shutterstock What's new: An article about forms of navigation using aspects of the earth's magnetic field.  Why it's important: Autonomous navigation is becoming more interesting for a number of applications in a world where interference with GNSS is becoming...

Munich 9 Years On: Same Message, More Urgency – Inside GNSS

Munich 9 Years On: Same Message, More Urgency – Inside GNSS

Image: Shutterstock What's new: RNTF President Dana Goward's column for the May/June edition of Inside GNSS+. Why it's important: It discusses a PNT example of how concern within the tech community does not necessarily turn into action by political leaders. Or at...

US Congress hearing on PNT –  June 4th

US Congress hearing on PNT – June 4th

Image credit: House Energy and Commerce Committee What's new: A congressional hearing titled Where Are We?: Examining Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Capabilities in the United States. Why it's important:  The hearing is being held by the Communications and...

Get PNT News in Your Inbox